CNN may have to lawyer up now, after one of its commentators lobbed a defamatory claim at President Donald Trump Monday night, and host John Berman barely lifted a finger to correct it.
Cameron Kasky, a 25-year-old Parkland shooting survivor turned activist, was on NewsNight for some reason. There, he falsely claimed Trump was part of a "human sex-trafficking network," in what appeared to be a reference to Jeffrey Epstein's criminal enterprise. The allegation wasn't some throwaway line, either. Kasky doubled down, despite multiple opportunities to walk it back, creating significant legal exposure for the network.
The incident began as a discussion about Trump’s quest to acquire Greenland, when, apropos of nothing, Kasky made the false claim.
“I am appreciative that the president is being transparent about this. I would love it if he was more transparent about the human sex-trafficking network that he was a part of, but you can’t win them all,” he said.
“Cameron’s grateful that the president is being transparent about the Nobel Peace Prize and his desires for Greenland,” host John Berman repeated. “Scott, what do you think about that?”
Jennings immediately objected. “Are you going to let that sit?” he asked. “Are we going to claim here on CNN that the president is part of a global sex trafficking ring, or —”
Berman cut in, attempting to bring the conversation under control. “Well, I mean, we’re going to talk about the Epstein file,” he said. “Well, I mean, we're going to talk about the Epstein file. Scott, I will do the fact-checking as we go along here. Repeat what you said about the global sex trafficking ring?”
Kasky did not retreat. “That Donald Trump was provably very involved with it,” he said.
“Okay, we'll get to that later,” Berman said. “I mean, Donald Trump has never been charged with any crimes in relation to Jeffrey Epstein.”
Kasky interrupted, dismissing the legal point. “Yes, but let’s be adults,” he said. When Berman continued trying to move on, Kasky added, “Let’s be serious.”
The tense back-and-forth ended with Berman attempting to close the exchange and restore order, turning back to Jennings and asking, “Satisfied?”
A smug 25-year-old leftist activist just got HUMBLED live on CNN by Scott Jennings.
— Overton (@overton_news) January 20, 2026
Cameron Kasky claimed President Trump was part of a “human sex-trafficking network” — and for a moment, the panel let it slide.
Until @ScottJenningsKY stepped in and FORCED the host John Berman… pic.twitter.com/wRxV2sQ3B5
The conversation moved on, but the damage was already done. Nothing Kasky said was true. President Trump has never been credibly accused of participating in any of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes. Networks understand this, which is why they typically insert legal caveats when the subject comes up. They know the difference between reporting facts and floating defamatory insinuations.
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Kasky blew past that line when he declared that Trump “was provably very involved with it.” That was not mere careless phrasing. It was a flat assertion of fact, and a false one.
Pointing out that Trump was never charged does nothing to absolve Kasky’s claim. Berman effectively allowed a baseless allegation to linger unchallenged. While it’s true that Trump hasn’t been charged with anything, the real issue here is that Trump has never even been credibly accused of involvement in Epstein’s crimes, and there is zero evidence tying him to them in any way.
Kasky didn’t present his claim as an opinion or speculation either. He accused a sitting president of serious criminal conduct and presented it as indisputable truth.
Why is this a problem for CNN?
Trump is suing the BBC for $10 billion for deceptively editing his speech on Jan. 6, 2021, to make it appear he told his supporters to storm the Capitol. While that case is ongoing, Trump has had a string of successes with similar lawsuits. Meta agreed to pay $25 million to settle Trump’s lawsuit over his suspension from Facebook. Alphabet paid a $22 million settlement for suspending Trump’s YouTube channel. CBS settled with Trump for $16 million over its deceptive edits of Kamala Harris’s 60 Minutes interview in a blatant attempt at election interference. ABC News settled with Trump for $15 million over George Stephanopoulos’s false claims about him. These companies did not settle out of charity or goodwill.
Will CNN be the next network that Trump sues for defamation? It should be.
Editor’s Note: The mainstream media isn't interested in the facts; they're only interested in attacking the president. Help us continue the fight against media bias by supporting our truth-telling journalism today.
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